Trouble NY skyscraper sold

A group of investors led by RCG Longview and George Comfort & Sons have signed a contract with Deutsche Bank AG to purchase Worldwide Plaza, a Manhattan office tower that was part of an ill-fated portfolio of skyscrapers acquired by developer Harry Macklowe at the top of the market, according to people familiar with the matter.

The investment group has agreed to infuse fresh capital into the building. But Deutsche Bank, which financed most of Macklowe's acquisition and has been trying to cut its losses, also is maintaining a large mortgage on the building.

Deutsche Bank has sold the other six buildings in the Macklowe portfolio that the bank took over from the developer last year after he defaulted on the debt that financed his $7bn acquisition. Deutsche Bank has struggled to make many of the sales in Manhattan's ailing office market and in the case of Worldwide Plaza, agreed to stay in the deal as a major lender.